Pasta e fagioli

Simple, flavorful and nourishing classic Italian bean and pasta stew that can be made three ways: 1) in a pressure cooker, 2) on the stovetop or 3) using canned beans instead of dried beans.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup dried red Kidney Beans-washed/rinsed/presoaked
• 1 cup dried Navy Beans- washed/rinsed/presoaked
• 1 pound ground beef (more or less)- optional
• 1 medium onion, diced (or about ½ cup frozen diced onions)
• ½ cup diced celery (about 2-3 stalks)
• ½ cup diced carrots (or ½ bag baby carrots, diced)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 cup of water
• 2 14½ oz cans beef broth (or one 32 oz box)
• 1 14½ oz can diced or whole tomatoes
• ½ of a 32 oz. jar pasta sauce
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup (or more) of Ditalini or similar pasta noodle

INSTRUCTIONS

Using the "Sauté" function on the Instant Pot, add a bit of oil and lightly brown the ground beef. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic; continue sautéing until vegetables soften –about 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients, except noodles (water, broth, tomatoes, pasta sauce, seasonings). Set Instant Pot "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" function to pressure cook at high for 35 minutes and natural release. Taste and adjust if salt is needed.

Towards the end of the Instant Pot cooking cycle, start a pot of boiling water (about 4 cups of water) and cook 1 cup of Ditalini or similar pasta noodle. Cook more than a cup of dry noodles if desired. Ditalini takes about 10 minutes to cook.

To serve, combine noodles and soup in bowl. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and/or Black Pepper.

NOTE: Once set for 35 minutes cook time, the pressure cooker will take about 15 minutes to come up to the necessary temperature and pressure. With a natural pressure release, the cooking process takes about an hour and 15 minutes.

Alternate Option 1: Stovetop
This recipe can be made on the stovetop; the cooking time will be in the neighborhood of 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours.

Alternate Option 2: Canned Beans
Using canned beans shortens the total cooking time to about 30-40 minutes on the stove top. There is no advantage to using a pressure cooker in this instance. Just sauté the sofrito (onions, carrots, celery, garlic) 10-15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except the beans) and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes, then add the rinsed/drained canned beans to heat them (by simmering additional 5 to 10 minutes). To use canned or already-cooked beans for this recipe, you’ll want to use about four 15-ounce cans of cooked beans rinsed and drained.